thanksgiving in france

this year, thanksgiving was different. i was actually dreading it a little bit. it was the first time i had ever been away from my family...and i wasn't super excited about that.

so on the thursday after our trip to the alsace, we all got together at dr erickson's for a thanksgiving lunch. we couldn't do a dinner because of a previously scheduled evening class for art history in the orsay, but lunch was actually perfect for us. 

we all signed up to bring something different. i made mama's carrots - the cooked ones with brown sugar and butter. so yummy. they were gone waaaay too fast. 

when olivia and i walked out of our apartment building, the air was crisp and the sky was clear. 

it actually felt like thanksgiving.

i know it's silly to say, but it felt that way. we got ourselves donuts for breakfast from this pastry shop on rue cler, which i firmly believe has the best donuts in paris. personal opinion, though. and then we went shopping for our food stuff. 

we showed up at dr erickson's and played wii. olivia kicked my butt, which was to be expected. i mean, she has lapped me at super bijou quête* only like 6 times. 

*super bijou quête is the only game on our paris phones. it's called jewel quest (?) in english.

then we cooked my carrots. nateybabes came and i helped him make his green bean casserole, which was exciting, because who knew cream of mushroom soup would be so hard to find in paris? and so different from american cream of mushroom soup? it turned out to be delicious, though, so no one should be worried about that.

when everyone was together, we played a few card games. sage taught us all how to play the game scum. that was super fun. 

and then we set the table to eat! we couldn't have turkey, unfortunately. it's kind of a rarity in paris, i guess? plus it would be pretty hard to transport a 20 pound bird through the metros. ha. but we did have roast chicken. we had five roast chickens, in fact. and they were delicious. 

we didn't have any stuffing. we didn't have any yams with marshmallows, or grandpa ed's cranberry sauce, or pumpkin or pecan pie. but we did have our paris family, all gathered together. it was kind of precious. it was the perfect day. we ate all of our food. we laughed and talked and genuinely enjoyed each others' company. we went around the table and all said something that we were thankful for. 

and we had dessert. that was great, too. we had magnum ice cream bars, american brownies from a mix that alicia's mom sent her (thank you mama eyre!), and some sort of raspberry dessert.

and then we continued to play cards. we played cuilleres || spoons, but remembered that that game creates a lot of tension, so we went back to playing scum. haha. and people talked and laughed and we just had fun all together.

after our art history class, we got to go back to dr erickson's and eat the leftovers for dinner. it was an almost perfect day.

the only thing that would have made it perfect would have been my family. i sure do miss those funny people. (can't wait to see them in TEN DAYS not that i'm counting.)

here is a list of some of the things i'm thankful for this year (let's see if i can write this without crying):

♢ my family ♢

i miss them. i love them. i'm grateful that they love and miss me. i'm grateful that they are so supportive of me and that they are stuck with me forever. sorry i'm not sorry. :) i'm grateful i get to see them so soon. i cannot wait to hug every single one of them about 40 bazillion times. and i'm grateful for the tears that i know i will cry when i see them. because let's face it, i'm a tenderheart and i will cry. sorry i'm not sorry about that, either, guys. 

♢ the world's best mom ♢

she may not realize it, but she is my best friend. she is the most kind and giving person i know, and i am so glad that she puts up with all the times i call her for help. i'm grateful that she is always willing to have fun with me, and that she loves downton abbey as much as i do. :) she's really the best, and i love her.

♢ the world's best dad ♢

i think he's a spiritual giant, and has been such an example to me in that respect. i love his sense of humor, and all of his "dave-isms." i'm grateful that he sings at the top of his lungs with me and enjoys tobiko. and i can't wait to get eggnog shakes with him.

♢ the world's best brother ♢

i look up to that kid so much (and not just because he's 8 inches taller than i am). he understand the meaning of hard work. i'm grateful for his example of achieving goals. i don't know anyone as driven or motivated as he is, and i'm grateful that i can look to him as an example because heaven knows how easy it is to be lazy. and i'm grateful that he will drive places with me, even though i listen to music that isn't cool.

♢ the example my family is to me ♢

thanks for encouraging me to go after what i want. thanks for teaching me to not be a jerk. thanks for showing me that true happiness is founded upon the gospel of jesus christ. thanks for helping me to build my own testimony, one that i can't wait to share with the people of the world.

♢ my paris family ♢

i am convinced that paris is magic. the city itself is amazing. but my experience here wouldn't have been half of what it has been without the people that i'm with. the friends i have made here have really become my family away from home, and i am so grateful for them. thanks for putting up with me, for making me laugh and smile, for knowing how to have fun, and for just being great people. 

♢ the hurlbuts ♢

dr h & jennie were the greatest directors anyone could have ever asked for. i could not have gotten a better introduction to paris - and all of france - from anyone else, and for that i am grateful. i'm so glad they made their apartment feel like our home. i'm grateful for dr h's jokes and for jennie's love and care. i know that they cared about each of us individually, and they were like second parents for us! i'm so glad we got to know them.

♢ dr erickson ♢

um, hello? also the greatest director ever! dr erickson makes me smile all the time. he loves paris so much, and even though having to switch directors half way through our program was rough, i am so glad that dr erickson was the guy who got to take over. he has helped me to remember to look at paris with fresh eyes everywhere i go. he has helped me to understand the french language better. i love the way he talks about his wife. it is the sweetest thing i have ever heard, and i want to one day find a man who will talk about me the way dr erickson talks about jean.

♢ paris ♢

i love this city more than i can even begin to tell you all. i love the history that is here. i love the people. i love the food. i love the culture. i love the art. i love the museums. i love paris in the fall. i love absolutely everything about it (except for the chicken liver incident). i am so grateful that i have had the opportunity to get to know it. that i can say "i have lived in paris." that i can talk about paris as a home, not just some city that i have visited. i'm grateful for the cultural differences, and that i got to make some awesome betises || mistakes and learn from them (i will never eat in the metro again, i promise, please stop giving me dirty looks) (always say bonjour, say bon soir after 16:30 even though i can never remember that) (i will never leave the house again with wet hair, i swear on my life). i'm grateful to have been a part of this city in some small way. i'm grateful to have explored a new place so in depth, that i can begin to know it and understand it. i'm grateful for the magic that is here, and that i get to be a part of it. i hope this isn't just rambling. because i feel like it is. i hope you know what i'm trying to say, because i don't even have words to describe how thankful i am for the past three months.

♢ the lamppost at place de la concorde ♢

one day i was feeling super sorry for myself. i was pretty homesick about half way through the program, and i was just a little down in the dumps. i took myself on a walk before class, and i ended up wandering through place de la concorde. i was kinda looking at the ground when i almost walked into a lamppost. so i looked up at it. it was massive. it was green, with really intricate decorations. it was even decorated on the undersides of it. (who else would decorate the underside of a lamp? only the french.) and it was gilded. i started wondering, "do the french even know how lucky they are to live here?" and that's when it hit me "sydney freaking hughes, why are you feeling sorry for yourself? look at where you are. do YOU even realize how lucky you are to live here? you're in paris. go enjoy it." i'm grateful for that little reality check. that lamppost in the southwest corner of the place will forever hold a special place in my heart. 

♢ the gospel of jesus christ ♢

i am so grateful that the gospel of jesus christ has been restored to the earth. and that i have it in my life. i'm grateful to be a member of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. i'm grateful to have a testimony of it. i'm grateful to have a personal relationship with my savior, who died for me. who has felt all of my pains, whether they are because of sins or not. i'm grateful to have someone who understands me so completely and loves me so fully. i'm grateful to my heavenly father for all of my blessings. i can't say enough to express my gratitude. i'm grateful for his never ending love, and for the chance that i have to be here on earth. and that i can return to live with him again. i'm just grateful.

♢ and last but not least ♢

let's go back to my family. because i didn't say enough about them, and i want to end on them. i know i am not a hughes on accident. i'm grateful that i am a part of the big, wacky, and a little bit (or lotta bit) weird roos and hughes family mix. it's the best mix of people that ever got mixed, and i love every single one of my family members, immediate and extended. i'm grateful for the temple, and for the blessings received there that can let me be sealed to my family forever. i can't imagine being stuck with a better group of people. i'm grateful for grandma coco, for raising her kids in the gospel and leading them all to where they are today. i'm grateful for grandma carole jean and grandpa ed for joining the church when my dad was only 13, and for not looking back. all of my grandparents mean the world to me, and i'm so glad they're mine! :) i'm grateful for my aunts and uncles, who are some of my very best friends. i'm grateful for cousins who are more like siblings than cousins. i love all those weird and wonderful people ♡

  

i think i am the most blessed girl in the entire world. i don't know what i did to deserve such a wonderful life, but you better believe i am stinkin' grateful for it.

(in case anyone was wondering...i did not make it through this post without crying. so...yep. if you thought that i would cry, then give yourself three sparkle points. you totally deserve them for calling it.)

and i totally would upload some photos of thanksgiving if blogspot would let me. but it's still being grumpy so...sorry!

paris saint-germain soccer game

17 novembre 2012

on saturday evening, i went to the paris saint-germain soccer game with alicia, annie, kayla, maddie, natey, noah, and maddie. it was such a blast!!

the tuesday before the game, we met up at the psg (paris saint-germain) store and bought our tickets. they were way cheaper than we were thinking, and we got seats all together. so on saturday after learning how to make macarons with a woman in the stake (yeah. we did that.), we headed off to the parc de prince.

the soccer game was super hardcore. there was one section of fans that i swear never stopped yelling. i LOVED it! the huge stadium was so alive. people were jumping up and down, yelling in french, and everyone was just so excited to be there. i loved that.

while we were there, the things that i noticed the most were the pride and the lifestyle. soccer in europe is such a source of pride for the people. it's like americans and their sports teams, only i feel like it's even more important. maybe that's just me. and it's a way of life. people at the stadium were all about soccer - nothing else. there were entire families, people from 7 to 70 in that stadium. it's part of these people's lives - for their whole lives. i love it!

salon du chocolat || chocolate fair

3 novembre 2012

on saturday morning, we all met up at dr erickson's house and headed off to the salon du chocolat! it was a massive chocolate fair that lasted for 5 days. i didn't really know what to expect...but i was so pleasantly surprised!

inside there were hundreds of booths, all selling chocolate. each booth had something different. there were chocolate pops, chocolate bars, hot chocolate, chocolate fountains, chocolate pillows, chocolate cookies, chocolate chocolate chocolate.

there were all different kinds of chocolate. chocolate from around the world, chocolate with special ingredients, vegan chocolate...you get the idea.

it was fun sampling things. i loved that part. i also bought some specialty chocolate! delish!

i loved it because you could see just how prevelant and important chocolate is in the french culture. i mean, they had a 5 day fair celebrating and promoting it, for heaven's sakes! it also showed me that chocolate is a huge part of cultures all around the world. i loved that one delicious food can bring together people from all walks of life. it just goes to show you that good food can unite the world :) cheesy? yes. do i regret saying that? pas du tout. || not at all.

i wish i could upload photos to show you how great it was! i swear i'm working on fixing that. it's just taking forever to figure it all out. sorry!

le déjeuner pour les SDF || lunch for the homeless

date : 5 octobre, 2012

 (sorry...i don't have any photos of this!)

this is probably one of the best things i have done in paris to date. jennie, dr h's wife, heard a group of us talking about how we felt so bad for some of the homeless here in paris. she quickly jumped on finding a way for us to help without giving away all of our change.

she ended up contacting the american church of paris. every friday afternoon, they organize a lunch for 64 people who are down on their luck. they sign up during the week and show up on friday around noon for a delicious home-cooked meal that we got to serve them.

annie, sage, alicia, and i showed up at the church at 10 am to help set up. set up went really pretty fast, so we were told to go buy ourselves pastries. we didn't complain. haha.

after eating our pastries on a bench overlooking the seine, we headed back to the cathedral for serving lunch. i was blown away by how nice everything was. this is no american soup kitchen assembly line where you scoop a pile of something questionable on a tray. we had full place settings for each person, used real silver ware, and they were able to have a three course meal, complete with dessert and coffee. we were given the low down on how things would work. each of us would grab two plates at a time and get food on them. then we would serve the women first, then the old men, and then everyone else.

before we began to actually serve, we had a short volunteer meeting and had a prayer. it was a really neat experience to work together with people who aren't of our same faith but believe in the same god and the same christ that i believe in. i loved that we all wanted to just do something good for these people who may not be able to do something good for themselves.

it was such a wonderful experience to serve these people. they devoured their food. scarfed it. i can only imagine how hungry most of them were. sage told me this story about how she was going to clear a crumpled paper napkin from one man's place. he stopped her and told her, "i want to keep it. i need to shine my shoes later." it broke my heart. but it also confirmed that i was in the right place.

everyone was so grateful. i loved that. i served one woman who clearly had a speech impairment, but every time i helped her, she made the effort to slur out, "merci madame!" and give me a huge toothless smile. i loved her, even though i didn't know her name.

after serving lunch and clearing up the tables, we were shuffled into the kitchen where we helped to dry off the clean dishes. it was fun to talk to all the people there. most of them have been doing this together for years and they have their own little family. it was really fun to hear their stories and how they came to be in france. when we were done, we all felt so good. it was just such a neat experience to give back and love these people we had never even met before.

if anyone is ever in paris on a friday afternoon and has a few spare hours and wants to serve...please look up the american church of paris and contact them for volunteering. it was the most wonderful thing i have done in france so far.

activité culturale : concert des moyen-age || cultural activity : concert from the middle ages

on sunday after church, dr h got us tickets for a concert at the cluny museum of music from the middle ages. it was actually amazing. the concert was held in my 2nd favorite room of the museum, the room of the king's heads (my favorite being the room with the unicorn horn, duh).

anyway.

the concert was made up of four people - three men and a woman. they all sang beautifully. they used crazy harmonies and used their instruments - l'harpe || the harp, le violon || an older and larger ancestor of the violin, and la cistre || an ancestor of the guitar - were used very sparingly.

each of the songs sung told a story - and they felt very elaborate. not that i could really understand them. but i understood that they were beautiful and that the performers were very talented.

i mean, come on.

feast your ears on this for a second. (enjoy the view of the notebook in my lap.)

forgive me for not knowing the technical terms...but there are two high parts in the song, and one of them is a man singing. impressed? you should be.

i loved this activity. i loved being able to listen to music from the middle ages and appreciate it for it's beauty. i loved being in the cluny, surrounded by statues from the middle ages. it was such a great look into french history, seeing it from another perspective. it was so cool!

mon voyage + l'école || my trip + school

hi world! i'm currently sitting in my apartment with my roommate olivia. we're supposed to be doing homework...but blogging and talking are much more appealing.

so here's a little bit more detail on my trip last week. get ready for a long one, people. there are a whoooole lot of words in this thing.

sorry for the lack of photos...the wifi isn't the greatest around these parts.

saturday : lyon
we got on the train and went to lyon. once there, we had lunch (alicia and i split our sandwich and dessert - it has become tradition! and nate found a snail in his sandwich, which was weird.), went to some roman ruins, checked out a chouette || cool museum, and walked to an amazing cathedral overlooking all of lyon. it's called la fourviere and was dedicated to the virgin mary after the influenza epidemic of the 1800s passed over lyon. as we walked up the hill on a little cobblestone street to la fourviere, the mass was being played over loudspeakers and we were able to listen to what sounded like angels singing. it was magical. then we went to dinner and later that evening, a group of us walked around lyon a little bit. it was mostly boring because our hotel was in the business district...which meant a train station and a lot of business-y things. so we turned around and went back.

la fourviere - note the guilded mary!

alicia and i overlooking lyon

sunday : lyon to le puy-en-velay
got up, on the metro, and found our way to the little ward in lyon. it was in the upstairs of a warehouse-ish building. we started with relief society, so things were a little backwards, but it was ok. the relief society president (who's name i can't remember and i feel terrible) asked if any of the byu girls would like to say la prière || the prayer. and somehow my hand was in the air? i'm not really sure what happened there. i've never been so terrified haha but i think it went well. i was amazed the entire time by the amount of children there. i felt like it was one huge game of "pass the baby." i loved how close everyone was and how accepting and welcoming these women were of us. for all three meetings, i think i was on the verge of tears. not because i was sad, but because it reminded me so much of home - it was such a family. i wanted to cry in a good way. i could see how happy the deacons and priests were when they had to prepare extra bread and water for the sacrament. i know that feeling. i know how great it feels when you have to prepare more than what you were expecting. i loved absolutely everything about this ward. i left my heart in the upstairs of that warehouse-ish building. after church, we got on our bus and drove for 2 hours to le puy-en-velay. i don't think i can describe just how much i loved that place. there were windy cobblestone streets, flags hanging between buildings, flowers in windowsills, and cathedrals set atop the dormant volcanoes. i LOVED it. we went on what dr hulbut (heretofore referred to as dr h) called "a stroll" but really ended up being a 3 hour long trek up and down mountains. i loved the cathedral saint michel d'aiguilhe. it is a 1,000 year old cathedral set atop this dormant volcano after saint michel completed his pilgrimage to saint jacques de compostella. it was such an amazing little place. after exploring for a while, we headed back into le puy and ate dinner, then sage, annie, alicia, and i had some girl talk. good stuff.

alicia, me, & cori outside the church

silly girls

saint michel d'aiguilhe

fall 2012 group :)

maddie, kayla, kaitlin, alicia, annie, cori, olivia, me, mallory, lucy

monday : le puy-en-velay to rodez
we had to get up at the butt crack of dawn. we weren't super excited...but the day was absolutely amazing. we attended a 7 am mass as the beginning of our pilgrimage (i say pilgrimage...but really we only did 15 miles over two days. so many people do the full thing, which is sometimes 3 to 4 months of hiking!) and it was so interesting to listen and try and understand what was happening. some of it i did understand. my favorite part of the whole thing was when a nun was reading prayers for members of the congregation. before each one, she sang "oh père eternal, attend les prières qui monte de nos coeurs" or something to that effect. (eternal father, hear the prayers that ascend from our hearts.) and then we began our hike. it was through the most beautiful countryside i've ever seen. it was all green and luscious and sometimes there were cows. cows in france are brown with these huuuge eyes. they're much prettier than the cows along the i5 in california. haha. when we ended our hike, we were bussed to a little town where we were served lunch. it was here that i realized i had been wearing my shirt on backwards. all day. oops? after hiking and physical activity, i'm usually not very hungry. food just doesn't really ever sound appealing. but this was a nice restaurant and they had a pre-fixed menu for us, so we had to eat what we were served. our starter course was a puff pastry filled with gravy, escargot, and morel mushrooms. i actually liked it. then we had pork and potatoes, then a cheese course, and then dessert. and then we got back on the bus to rodez. after a few hours on a windy bus...the snail and mushroom pastry wasn't quite as good any more. after showering, i still felt kinda queasy, so alicia scratched my back while i contemplated throwing up. but i finally decided not to, and then we headed to dinner. so much food. at this dinner, i was served fish. and do you know what? i actually ate it. normally i don't like fish. but this stuff was fairly reasonable. yes, this is where you all applaud me. after dinner, some of us went to mcdo's || macdonald's (which is green, not red) for sodas because they just sounded so good after lots of weird food.

the scenery

me, heather, mallory, caitlyn

backwards shirt

puff pastry with escargot and mushrooms

tuesday : conques to figeac
got up, were bussed to our starting point, and hiked 5 miles through the countryside to conques, the most quaint little medieval village built into the side of a hill. the cathedral there is the best preserved example of romanesque architecture in france. it was beautiful. i loved this day. when we were leaving the treasury of the cathedral, it started raining, so alicia, caitlyn, kaitlin, and i danced in it and jumped and loved it. then we were bussed to figeac, which was another amazingly charming little town. i explored with cori and alicia. after a while, i wanted to go see a cathedral so i went on my own and it was great. i ran into dr. and sister h up there, and i got to talk to dr. h about my pilgrimage experience. the entire time it had been bugging me - why do these people backpack for 4 months to a cathedral where there are only possible relics of saint john? here are some of my conclusions : it is an act of faith. their faith is so strong that it doesn't matter if the relics are real or not. they are willing to endure extreme physical hardship to show their complete dedication and devotion. sitting in the cathedrals with soaring ceilings, my place in the universe and in history was put into perspective. one of my favorite parts of the cathedrals are how worn down the stone floors and steps are. so many people have walked there over hundreds of years, and who am i? just another number? but somehow i matter, too. somehow god cares about me, even though millions and billions have come before me. it also helped me appreciate the lds church settings more. it was neat to compare these cathedrals to the ward in lyon. in lyon, i immediately felt at home. it was so personal and close and warm. i never felt lost. our dinner was amazing in figeac. we had sweet and sour quail and a carrot and honey mousse, to name a few of the things on our plates! it was deeeelish.

alicia, nate, me, olivia, maddie

conques! kayla, kaitlin, maddie, alicia, nate, cori, me, annie, olivia

sharing an éclair with leash

caitlyn, kaitlin, alicia, me. we love rain.

figeac

wednesday : figeac to sarlat
got up, were bussed to pech-merle. it was way cold, but we got to explore the caves of pech-merle and see 24,600 year old cave paintings. it blows my mind that there are things that old that are still in amazing condition. and that people are allowed to go into the actual caves to see them! they have millions of visitors each year, and still the paintings are in great condition. after that, we went to bénac, where we started our 15 km (9 mile) canoeing adventure! alicia and i shared a canoe and had our fair share of struggles. it was highly amusing. at one point, we were already behind the rest of the group when we accidentally t-boned a canoe of french people. we apologized and tried to paddle away, but the man in the boat kept grabbing our canoe and yelling, "attaque! attaque! pirates!" ("attack! attack! pirates!") oh, it was so delightfully hilarious. it was so awesome to be canoeing along the dordogne, looking at the beautiful scenery, when suddenly up would pop a castle. no big deal or anything, though. then we went to sarlat where we got to eat foie gras with our dinner. then we explored sarlat. i may or may not have gotten us lost. oops. and i may or may not have slipped down a hill and gotten covered in white dirt. oops. and we may or may not have been hit on by drunk frenchmen (don't worry dad, nate and noah were with us). i joked that they felt bad for me being covered in dirt and thought it would boost my confidence. i still think it's hilarious. then we went back to our hotel and decided we needed a movie night. caitlin and i watched "while you were sleeping" and fell asleep. ironic? perhaps a little.

alicia and i ready to canoe

noah, lucy, mallory, cori, nate, alicia, me

just a castle, nbd

unreal.

thursday : sarlat to angers
got up and explored sarlat a little bit more with mallory and annie in the rain. it was so pretty, even though everything was gray. we got on our bus and drove to lascaux ii, where we saw 15,000 year old cave paintings. holy cow. mind still blown. then we spent 5 hours on the bus driving to angers. i took photos of people sleeping because that's what i do and titled them, "the sleepers." we had a lovely dinner all to ourselves in a restaurant where we all gasped when our dessert came out, then we explored the town a little bit with dr and sister h, and then we had story time with nate. it was entertaining.

annie, alicia, sage, me at lascaux ii

the sleepers || nate and alicia

the sleepers || me looking rather dead

the sleepers || cori, how do you do that??

bridge in angers

friday : puy du fou
puy du fou is a french medieval amusement park. it was super cool. there were lots of shows that had these sets that really were so well done. we went to shows about joan of arc, the vikings, gladiators, crazy birds, and the final spectacle was the night show that acted out the history of france in the region where we were. it started at the renaissance and continued to present day. there was a water show, a light show, fireworks, music, singing, dancing, and all things wonderful. it was so full of french pride! i really liked getting to experience that part, too.

noah, alicia, annie, nate, heather, lucy, sage, olivia, mallory, me, cori, caitlyn at puy du fou!

sage, lucy, annie, me, and alicia at the coloseum!

sharing yet another sammie

saturday : angers to paris
saturday morning we were able to explore a little bit more of angers. we got to go to angers castle and see the apocalypse tapestry. it was so so so cool. we had worksheets with scriptures from revelations and we had to fine the corresponding pieces. i loved looking for all the little details. the light was really dark because the tapestries had faded a little, but you could see the details if you looked hard enough. dr h pointed out that because of separation of church and state, there were no corresponding scriptures for the panels. i thought it was interesting that the separation is so severe that you can't even have any verses to describe what is happening in each of the panels. we also got to explore the castle a bit. it was such a nice day out that i didn't want it to end. i wanted to sit on the castle wall in the sunshine for the rest of forever. then we got on a train back to paris. we had dinner and then had to navigate our way through metros and trams at 11 pm to dr h's apartment to drop off our luggage before church on sunday. it was a little bit of a mess, but our boyfriend (nate) did an excellent job getting us all there in one piece. alicia and i were roommates and it was such the funniest night. we stayed up until 2:30 am...oops. but it was great. love that girl.

me, carine, olivia, kaitlin, annie on the castle wall at angers

kaitlin, carine, me

kaitlin, alicia, me

sunday : church and host mom
on sunday we went to church in the paris ward. it was just like i remember it. well, not that i saw a whole lot of it when i was here 5 years ago, but the building looks like what i remember it looking like. then we had lunch at dr and sister h's apartment. sister h made some amazing quiche, let me tell you what. then we all got shipped out to our host families. it was really sad. i will be completely honest, i did not want to come back. i'm still not sure i want to be in paris. don't get me wrong - paris is amazing. i just had one of the best weeks of my life and i wasn't quite ready for it to end. anyway, our host mom lives right by la défense, the business district. olivia (my roommate) and i each have our own rooms in a 7th floor penthouse. it is so ritzy. and our mom is really nice! her name is madame dard. the only real downside is that she has un chat || a cat that loves my room a little too much. would it be bad if it "went missing?" haha. but seriously.

view from my window

"le petit chat" || "little cat" he has no name.

monday : first day of school
we had our first day of school. at 10 we had our intro class. it was good! we got lunch at this bakery right by the institute building. alicia and i lovingly nicknamed it "the gay-kery" because it is run by a group of gay men who are hilarious and so nice! we ate lunch outside the pompidou centre and then headed back for our institute class. i have a 20 minute presentation that i have to give on monday...wah. but at least i get it done with first! then we did a little exploring of the city and came home to do some homework.

tuesday : art history
I LOVE MY ART HISTORY CLASS. emphasis on LOVE and ART HISTORY CLASS. just in case you didn't catch that the first time you read it. our professor is super cool and we're going to be having classes in the different museums and walking around paris. i'm so excited. i didn't have any art history courses my sophomore year and sitting in the classroom discussing art was making me so excited. and happy. and smiley. after class alicia and i split another sandwich (like always) and then kaitlin, carine, and i explored a little. then annie, sage, olivia, alicia and i explored the metro stop châtlet. it's the biggest metro stop in the entire world. it's a mall, a metro and train stop, and all sorts of other things. so crazy. now olivia and i are supposed to be doing homework...but it's not going super well. hahaha. tomorrow i have my first french class! i'm excited. our class is 202 and we only have 3 people total. dit quoi? || say what? it's me, annie, and kaitlin. after that, alicia and i are going on a walking tour from our little book of paris walks. i'm super excited.

sharing yet another sandwich.

me, heather, and corine at the institute! it was the second day of school photo...but we pretended like it was the first.

sunset from my window this evening

well world, i'm off to explore some more! or maybe just do some homework. either way, a bientôt! || see you soon!

and if you made it to the end of this post, you get four sparkle points. because that, my friends, is impressive.